Chapter Five

Closing the heavy oak door of the master bedroom softly behind him, the young father entered the hallway just as he heard another door open in front of him. The main hallway of the second story of the villa was hazy from the lack of lighting. Lil had found it amusing to turn off one light after another on her way to her room.

Adjusting his eyes to the darkness, Jason recognized the petite frame of his nanny as she retreated quietly back to her room. She was ready for bed early tonight. The fabric of her pink nightgown glimmered in the darkness. Noticing her attire, he looked away, forcing his mind to avoid the memories from a few nights ago. When he turned back, he found that she had already entered her room.

Shaking his head, Jason continued down the hallway dressed for bed, but with a t-shirt on. He didn't need a repeat of a few nights ago. It was early for bed, but Jason planned to lie in bed with his thoughts. He barely made any noise as he traveled down the hallway, stopping at a door left slightly open. A slither of light shined over his body as he paused at the open door. Gently pushing the door open, a soft smile graced the young father's face at the site that greeted him.

The room was decorated in a variety of shades of blue. The walls were the color of the sky, painted clouds covered the ceiling. The bedding, a quilt patchwork of different blues and white with stitched butterflies and flowers. All the furniture was white in an antique style. A lit lamp with a blue and white-checkered shade sat on the night table. Lil sat under her quilt with Mr. Floppy, flipping through a photography book of Scotland. She immediately closed her book and beamed up at her father. "Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, munchkin." Moving toward the four year old, Jason noticed the time. He instantly frowned. Elizabeth would be kissing Lil asleep at this time. It was one of their usual nightly rituals. The nanny would be tucking the child into bed, just as he would enter the room to bid his daughter good night. His frown deepened. Was she avoiding him?

It made very little sense to him why Elizabeth had decided to resign. He thought she was happy with her job as Lil's nanny. From the moment he had hired her, with every corner he had turned, he had always found Elizabeth and Lil together. They were either cooking up a storm in the kitchen or simply cuddling on the couch with a book. Elizabeth had won his approval by making his daughter content. Lil was always smiling because of the woman that looked after as if she was her own daughter.

Jason had been reluctant at first to hire Elizabeth, mainly for her age, but once she had entered his home, she had become a permanent fixture that felt odd to be without. She had a kind gentle soul that was always willing to help those around her. She never complained. She stayed out of his way. Why? He didn't know. She never asked questions and brought warmth into his home that he enjoyed. He spoke very little to her, but that was the kind of person he was. Calm, reserved, and indifferent.

Jason understood that he had slipped up in some sense by kissing Elizabeth, but staring down at her in her bedroom, something in him had ruptured and he had kissed her without a second thought. It was a mistake. Being in a romantic relationship had been out of the question for him, ever since Sam. He certainly didn't think starting anything with his nanny was a wise decision. He was her employer. She was his employee. They had to keep a professional relationship despite everything else, even as overwhelming as the circumstances were.

When he had tried to explain earlier downstairs that it was in their best interest that they not be involved, it had came out wrong, landing him in trouble. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings, or to push her to quit. Her letter of resignation now sat on his desk, waiting to be opened. It was a simple envelope that would cause a great deal of trouble for him.

Lil loved Elizabeth. Della and David gladly spent time with her. Emily and Brenda adored her. Sonny paid more attention to her than him. Even the guards worshiped her. Elizabeth leaving wasn't something he saw coming because of one kiss. A kiss that replayed in his mind more times than he would like to admit.

A vigorous tug on his white t-shirt jarred him from his thoughts. Looking down, Jason's cerulean eyes connected with his daughter's concerned ones. "Daddy, you okay?"

Taking the book his daughter held, Jason placed it on her night table and sat down beside her. Gently, sweeping her golden locks out of her eye, he smiled down at her. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"Because you made that face, Daddy."

"What face?"

"The one where your forehead wrinkles and your eyebrows lower," she touched the creases in his forehead and the pinched narrow space between his eyebrows.

"I was just thinking, sweetie."

"About what?" she asked, her curiosity twinkling in her pale blue eyes.

Lil didn't known yet that the nanny she loved was leaving and he wasn't sure if he should tell her now or wait for Elizabeth. His daughter deserved to be told that her caretaker was leaving and not the day that a stranger arrived to replace her nanny. Making up his mind, Jason decided he would speak to Elizabeth and from there they would break the news to Lil. "Just some grown- up things."

"Oh," she paused. "Can I help you with it?"

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as his daughter stared up at him with loving eyes. Despite the fact that she was only four years old, Lila Amanda Morgan was always willing to help in whatever way she could. It was one of her characteristic traits that he knew she inherited from her namsake. Leaning over, the young father pressed a gentle kiss to his daughter's forehead. "Thank you, but Daddy needs to take care of this himself."

"Okay," she murmured. Her eyes began to dart over the room as she held Mr. Floppy closer to her. There was a look in her eyes, Jason immediately recognized. Pain. Pain mixed with confusion.

Soothingly taking a hold of his daughter's chin, Jason titled her head to lock gazes with her. Tears rimmed her eyes as she stared up at him. The corners of her lips turned downward. The lost look in her blue eyes tugged at his heart. Did Elizabeth tell her? Did she hear that Elizabeth was leaving? How? "Honey, what's wrong?"

"Daddy, promise you won't get mad?"

"I promise." Letting his hand drop, Jason waited for his daughter to continue. His anxiety growing with every second that passed. What had Lil so upset?

Eyes downcast, the toddler began to fiddle with the Mr. Floppy's blue ears. "Where's my Mommy?" Her words low and muffled.

Jason's heartbeat stopped at the pain in her voice. Reaching for her, he gathered her in his arms and brought her close to his heart. Once in the past, Lil had asked about her mother and Brenda had saved him from explaining when she barged into his penthouse with a treat for Lil. It was one of the rare moments that Jason was grateful for Brenda's annoying ability to interrupt things. Now, he had no excuses to avoid any questions that his daughter would throw at him about her mother. "Your mom…she went away a very long time ago." She had.

"Why did she leave?" Lil sniffed against his chest. "Was it because she didn't love me?"

Closing his eyes, Jason inhaled deeply as his throat constricted at his daughter's words. "No," he murmured against her hair. "She loved you very much." She did.

"Then why did she leave?"

Kissing the top of her head, he answered as honestly as he could. "She wanted to live her life and decided to leave, but never because of you."

"Do you think she will ever come back?" she asked, her hand fisting in his white shirt.

He sighed, causing Lil to look up at him. Her sad blue eyes connected with those of the man she had inherited them from. His were full of regret. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

Reaching up she brushed a single tear that streamed down her father's cheek. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too, angel," the young father murmured, tightening his hold on his daughter. They gently rocked in place as father and daughter clung to each other. Brushing away Lil's hair, Jason kissed her softly on her temple, before rising with her in his arms. Placing her and Mr. Floppy on the bed, he pulled her covers back over them and took his place at her side, kindly wiping her tears away.

Lil began to nibble on her lower lip-a habit she had picked up from her nanny-causing Jason's eyes to narrow. "Daddy?" she called hesitantly.

"Yes?"

Lil hesitated for a second. "Can Liz be my mommy?" she mumbled.

He blinked numerous times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. Every time he opened his eyes, he saw his daughter's hopeful face, Jason had to accept that Lil had asked him what he thought she had asked him. His mind drew a blank as his daughter waited patiently for an answer to her question.

Clearing his throat, Jason attempted to answer his daughter. "Lil, I don't think that's possible."

"Why not?" she complained. "You just have to marry her and then I can call her mommy."

"Marry her?" Jason's eyes grew wider as he stared down at his daughter in utter shock.

"Yes, marry her, Daddy. You know like Uncle Sonny and Aunt Brenda," she explained. "You can have them and Aunt Emily help with the wedding and David can be the ring boy." Lil clapped her hands in joy. "And I can be the flower girl."

Jason's head was spinning. Where in the world had his daughter gotten this idea? Lil had been to weddings, the last being Sonny and Brenda's when they renewed their vows. He had explained what marriage was then, because her three year old mind at the time was curious, which it still was about everything. But where had Lil gotten the idea of Elizabeth becoming his wife for the nanny to be her mother?

Trying his best to wrap his mind around the situation, Jason cautiously asked, "Lil, who…" he didn't know how to phrase what he had to ask. There should be a book on how to answer your daughter's suggestions of marrying the nanny. "Lil, why…where-where did you get an idea like this?" He should have asked who.

"Well," she flashed him a sheepish smile. "David explained how mommies and daddies have to be married to have a baby and if you marry Liz then she can be my mommy.

Jason shook his head. It looked like nosiness was genetic and David acquired it from his mother. The kid had just stirred the questions in his daughter's mind. Next time, his mother bugged him Jason wouldn't shoo Brenda away from him. Either way Della was his favorite of the Corinthos family.

"And you and Liz will have someone to love like Uncle Sonny and Aunt Brenda," Lil went on. "You wouldn't be lonely anymore, Daddy."

He was touched by his daughter's concern for his happiness, but he had sworn never to get involved with a woman again after the fiasco with Sam. And to get involved with the nanny would only mean more complications that he wasn't sure he could deal with. "Lil that can't happen."

"Why not, Daddy?" She frowned at him. "You don't like Liz."

"No, no, no," he added quickly. "I like her very much, but she's the nanny, sweetie and for us to be married or a couple is not possible."

Her frown only deepened. "Why not?" she demanded, folding her arms over her chest. She was glaring now.

"Because…because…" He had no answer. "Because it's complicated," he announced.

Lil raised a pale blonde eyebrow at him. "No, its not. You tell her you love her. Then, you ask her to marry you."

Jason sighed, since when had his daughter joined the conspirators in the other villa of the estate? Pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes, he muttered. "It's not that simple, Lil."

"It is too," she stated adamantly. "You're just making it complicated."

Now, his daughter was criticizing him. What was the world coming to?

"Daddy," she cupped his face in her small hands. Looking up at him with her big blue eyes, she smiled up at him with hope. "She's wonderful. I like her, the Quartermaines like her…"

Jason rolled his eyes at the mention of his family.

"…the guards like her, everyone likes her," the child exclaimed when she got tired of naming people. "And so do you."

Jason exhaled slowly. "Lil."

"Daddy, I love Liz and I don't want to lose her. Everyone has a mommy, but I don't. She's like my mommy."

He swallowed roughly at the admission. He was in big trouble.

"Lil," he tried to get her attention again. It didn't work.

"If you marry Liz and she becomes my mommy then we'll be a real family." Her eyes lit up with joy as she spoke. "We'll always have someone to love us."
Jason's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Lil, this is Elizabeth's life we're talking about. We can't just ask her to stay forever. What if she doesn't want to?" She didn't want to now and it was his fault.

"But she promised to always be here for me," Lil said proudly with a bright smile.

He flinched. Something in him cracked at his daughter's words. His daughter stared up at him with innocent hopeful eyes. Elizabeth had promised to stay for his daughter and he had hurt her enough to cause her to break a promise. She never broke promises to Lil or anyone and she would now because of him.

Looking at his beaming daughter, Jason began to ponder what it would be like to have Elizabeth around forever. And not just as his nanny, but as something more. He could see her cooking in the kitchen with Lil like she did now, but with him joining them. He could see them all sitting on the couch with Elizabeth's yellow afghan, reading a travel book. He could see Elizabeth and him kissing Lil goodnight together, taking her hand and leading her down the hallway to the master bedroom-their bedroom. Yup, he was in really big trouble.

Shaking his head, Jason gently pushed Lil down onto her pillow and tucked her quilt under her chin. "I'll see what I can do, sweetheart."

She grinned from ear to ear at him with eyes full of glee. "Okay, Daddy."

Kissing her forehead, Jason moved to flip the lamp off, but paused at Lil's words. "Mr. Floppy wants a kiss too."

Chuckling, he kissed the stuffed animal and proceeded to turn the lamp off and the night light on. Taking one last look at the room, Jason moved towards his daughter again.

"Good night Daddy," she called out.

"Good night, angel," he murmured kissing her forehead again and this time not forgetting Mr. Floppy.

Reaching the heavy oak door, Jason paused to watch his daughter slowly fall asleep. A small smile made its way to his face as he watched her doze off. Closing the door behind him quietly, he looked at his dim hallway for a second before breaking into a sprint.

He had created a mess that he now had to find a way to fix.

~*~

The door slammed against the wall from the sheer force that he pushed it open with. The door sprung back at him as he entered the living room of the villa. Shutting the door behind him, Jason leaned against it, trying to calm his heart rate from his run to the villa. Three pairs of startled eyes stared back at him in bewilderment.

"I screwed up big time and I need help to make things right."